Acuity (NYSE:AYI) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Acuity, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $375.89 and last traded at $372.7050, with a volume of 130399 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $363.75.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AYI shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of Acuity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Acuity from $380.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Acuity from $365.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Acuity from $312.00 to $356.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Acuity from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $395.17.

Acuity Trading Up 2.3%

The business has a 50-day moving average of $357.10 and a 200-day moving average of $321.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.69, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Acuity (NYSE:AYI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $5.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.84 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. Acuity had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 9.13%.The firm’s revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.30 earnings per share. Acuity has set its FY 2026 guidance at 19.000-20.500 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Acuity, Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th were given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 17th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Acuity’s dividend payout ratio is 5.43%.

Insider Transactions at Acuity

In other Acuity news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 4,687 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.01, for a total transaction of $1,724,862.87. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 10,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,880,665.45. This trade represents a 30.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Acuity

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AYI. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Acuity during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Acuity by 1,100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 96 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Acuity during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Acuity in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Acuity by 122.2% in the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 100 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.21% of the company’s stock.

About Acuity

Acuity Brands, Inc provides lighting, lighting controls, building management system, location-aware applications in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Acuity Brands Lighting and Lighting Controls (ABL); and the Intelligent Spaces Group (ISG). The ABL segment provides commercial, architectural, and specialty lighting solutions, as well as lighting controls and components for various indoor and outdoor applications under the A-Light, Aculux, American Electric Lighting, Cyclone, Dark to Light, eldoLED, Eureka, Gotham, Healthcare Lighting, Holophane, Hydrel, Indy, IOTA, Juno, Lithonia Lighting, Luminaire LED, Luminis, Mark Architectural Lighting, nLight, OPTOTRONIC, Peerless, RELOCWiring Solutions, and Sensor Switch.